Agriculture loan

About the project

The project owner Maria is the owner of the land, but her son José is the one taking care of production and pursuing this loan. He started working in the small family vineyards, in the Beira Interior” region, to help his mother when he was 17 years old. Following a few years of good harvests, he rented an additional 7Ha of land to increase production, and during the last 24 years, his main focus has been the production of wine grapes to be sold to the “Adega Cooperativa de Meda” (Local official wine producers association) to be transformed into wine.

José has been always dedicated to his grape production, working the fields himself, with a flexible approach regarding his workforce. He hires seasoned locals to help him during the work-intense seasons according to his needs (which is a common practice in the Portuguese wine landscape). He also proudly claims to have fully implemented “integrated farming” culture methods to achieve a more efficient and sustainable production but is not yet certified (certification is a practical value for the farmer at the moment, since it has costs to acquire, it adds no value for his sales and he is not applying to any funds specific for this certification).

The project owner closed a deal to supply a large wine producer “JP Vinhos” and aims to increase production by replanting 2Ha of old vineyards with this loan.

Since this land is part of the original family estate and belongs to his mother, this loan has 2 layers of security. The official borrower of this loan will be his mother - providing sole accountability - but it will be José deploying the funds and overseeing the loan and will sign as guarantor - providing personal surety.

The farmer is also a beneficiary of the “Vitis 2022” subsidies (State subsidies for vineyard modernization), that he will receive in the end of 2022 and he plans to use a part of it to repay our loan.

Short description on the “Beira Interior” Wine region:

There has been wine production in Beira Interior since the time of the Roman Empire, But it was in the XII century that the Order of Cistercians increased and solidify the wine production here.

This region is made up of massive mountains overlooking the Spanish border and offers high altitude granitic terroirs, with a continental climate, hot and dry in summer, but with cold long winters.

The summer and autumn heat increases the alcohol levels even before the tannins are fully ripened, but with the traditional knowledge and skill, unique and balanced wines are achieved.